How To

GQ Cooks

10 essential tips, techniques, and secrets that every man should know

The biggest difference between professional chefs and home cooks? The pros can handle the heat. Lots of it. Whether they're tackling a slab of salmon or a hunk of dry-aged
beef, they get their pans blazing hot first. That's how they get that caramelized crunch on the outside—while keeping the interior moist and tender. Thomas Keller, acclaimed chef and author of Ad Hoc at Home, on how to sear without fear.

1. Take the meat out of the fridge already
"I don't care how hot your pan is; if you take a beautiful one-inch-thick strip loin out of
the refrigerator and put it right in there, you've got problems. In the time it takes the meat to get up to the right temperature, it's going to release moisture and it's not going to get brown. This applies to everything—fish, broccoli, haricots verts."

2. Pick the right-size pan
"Cram an eight-by-four-inch steak into an eight-inch pan and you're going to lose heat. Get a ten-inch pan made out of a good metal. You want something heavy that distributes heat evenly—stainless steel, cast iron."

3. Crank up the burner
"Once a tablespoon of oil in the pan's shimmering—you'll see the ripples—put the steak in and leave the burner on high for about a minute, then reduce to medium-high." Flip it once it's nice and crusty. "When you
do the other side, turn the heat from medium-high back up to high again for a minute. The hotter the heat, the better the sear."

4. Let it rest
"You have to account for carryover time—the time the meat continues cooking after you take it off the heat. So take your meat out of the pan knowing it's going to cook a little more. Now you've got a steak that on the outside is super-well-done—nice and caramelized—and right underneath that well-done crust, the meat is medium, and then right below that is the bull's-eye of medium-rare."